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C U B A 

CUBANS 



By 
WttBtTB S. 'TUPPER 



CUBA 



AND THE 



CUBANS 




Published by the 

The Stationary Manufacturing Co. 

418 Dearborn Street 

CHICAGO 



CUBA 



AND THE 



CUBANS 



BY 
WILBUR S. TUPPER 



Published by the 

The Stationary Manufacuuring Co. 
418 Dearborn Street 

CHICAGO 



Copyrighted 1907 

BY 

WILBUR S. TUPPER 



All Rights Reserved. 

5 



Tns"3 



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CUBA AND THE CUBANS 



DISCOVERY AND EARLY SETTLEMENT. 

The Island of Cuba was discovered by Columbus, 
October 28, 1492. Fourteen days before, he had touched 
upon the small island which he named San Salvador, now 
called Watling Island, from the name of the present 
owner. Cuba may. therefore, be regarded as the first land 
of importance discovered in the new world. Columbus 
landed on the Island in the neighborhood of what is now 
known as Nuevitas, probably at the mouth of the Maximo 
River. The journal of Columbus during his first voyage, 
indicates his wonder and admiration for the fertility, beauty 
and richness of the Island. He termed it "the most beauti- 
ful land that eyes ever beheld/' and called upon his com- 
panions to carefully note its beauties and its wonders ; for 
he feared that his sovereign might not be able to believe 
that so wonderful and beautiful a country existed, it was 
so much a scene of enchantment, Columbus thought he 
had struck the mainland of a continent; but the Indians 
made him understand that it was an island. He took pos- 
session of the land in the name of the Spanish crown and 
named it Juana, after the son of Ferdinand and Isabella. 
After the death of Ferdinand, an attempt was made to give 
the Island the name of Ferdinanda. Later on, it was call- 
ed Santiago, after Spain's patron saint. This name still 
lives in one of the largest cities of the Island in the south- 
eastern part. It was also called Ave Maria. But the 
native term, Cuba, has alone survived. 

The first Spanish settlement was made at Baracoa, on 
the northeastern coast, in 151 1. Then followed Trinidad, 
Sancti Spiritus, Puerto Principe and Santiago de Cuba. 
These settlements were made between 15 13 and 151 5 by 
Velasquez and Diego Columbus, son of the great discoverer. 
In 1 5 15 there was founded the town of San Cristobal de 
Habana, on the present site of Batabano. In 15 19, how- 

— 3 — 



ever, the city of Havana was moved to its present site on 
the northern coast. 

The native Indians of Cuba were a mild, peaceful 
race, and showed a fair degree of civilization. They be- 
lieved in a personal god and in the immortality of the soul. 
They lived at peace among themselves, the art of war being 
unknown to them. There being no wild beasts of import- 
ance or game animals in the Island, they were not accus- 
tomed to the chase, as were the northern Indians ; and the 
prodigality of the soil rendered much exertion unneces- 
sary. They were at once made slaves by the Spaniards 
and put to work in mines and fields. Unused to hardship, 
the entire native race became practically extinct in half a 
century. Toward the close of the sixteenth century, slaves 
began to be imported from South Africa ; and from then 
on until the abolition of slavery, Cuba was one of the prin- 
cipal slave markets of the world. 



SPANISH OPPRESSION AND THE REPUBLIC. 

Spanish dominion in Cuba is a record of nearly four 
centuries of cruelty and oppression. Every industry and 
product was taxed to the uttermost. The administration 
of the Island in the hands of favorites of the crown, was 
one of graft and extortion in every conceivable form. 
Resistance and revolution inevitably followed, and hardly 
a decade passed without insurrection and strife. 

One of the most important of these insurrections 
is known as the Ten Years War, which lasted from 1868 
to 1878. One incident of that war is worthy of our atten- 
tion. A Spanish gun-boat overhauled and captured off 
the coast of Jamaica, a steamer called the Virginius which 
claimed American registry. The Spaniards claimed it was 
a filibuster, and took steamer and crew to Santiago de 
Cuba, where on the 4th of November, 1868, three Cubans 
and one American were shot by order of the local com- 
mander. On the 7th, thirty-seven more men, including the 
captain of the vessel, were likewise executed, and on the 
8th twelve more suffered the same fate. At this point 
the commander of a British sloop of war in the harbor 
intervened and saved the remainder of the crew numbering 
something over 100. This incident caused an outburst of 
indignation in the United States and nearly led to war 
with Spain at that time. 

_4_ 



In 1898 war broke out between the United States and 
Spain, beginning- with the blowing up of the battleship 
Maine in Havana Harbor. On May 20, 1902, the Cuban 
flag was run up on Morro Castle and the Palace, and the 
Island began its existence as an independent republic. Sub- 
sequent events are fresh in our minds. Internal dissen- 
sion in the Island led to a revolution in the fall of 1906, 
which was promptly suppressed by the United States. The 
president of the Republic resigned, and an American mili- 
tary governor was appointed by the President of the United 
States. 

It may be explained here that the reason for United 
States intervention and the appointment of an American 
governor to rule the Island arose as follows : The treaty 
between the United States and Spain, made at the close of 
the w r ar, provided that the United States should guarantee 
in the Island a safe and stable government and likewise 
personal and property rights. Not only Spain, but England 
and Germany had large interests in the Island which would 
have been jeopardized by an unsafe or unstable native 
government and which called for this guaranty. Through 
his treaty, therefore, and by' the Piatt Senate Amendment 
on Cuban affairs, the substance of which was incorporated 
into the Cuban constitution, Cuba became practically a 
ward of the United States, and the United States became 
a perpetual guarantor of a stable government and the 
preservation of personal and property rights. 

LOCATION AND TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES, 

Cuba lies straight south of Florida and is about 100 
miles from Key West. The extreme eastern end of the 
Island lies directly south of the City of New York, and the 
extreme western end is nearly due south of Cincinnati. From 
Cape San Antonio on the west, to Point Maisi on the 
east is a distance of 730 miles. The total length through 
the center of the Island, which curves upward in the 
middle, would be about 800 miles. The width of the Island 
varies from 25 miles from Mariel through to the Carib- 
bean Sea, to about 125 miles at. the widest point in the 
eastern part. It has an area of about 44,000 square miles, 
being about the size of the State of Pennsylvania. 

Lengthwise throughout the Island there runs a water 
shed or ridge, developing here and there into a well de- 



fined mountain range, but in the main being an elevated 
plateau, ranging from ioo to 500 feet above sea level. In 
the Province of Pinar Del Rio, in the west, there is a well 
defined range of hills called the Organ Mountains, reach- 
ing a height of 2,000 feet. In the southern part of Santa 
Clara Province there is a group of rounded peaks, the 
highest of which, Potrerillo, is 2,900 feet. The most im- 
portant mountain range, however, runs from east to west 
along the southern coast of Santiago Province. These 
mountains rise to an elevation exceeding 8,000 feet. East 
of the City of Santiago these mountains are called the 
Cobre range, and it is here that the great copper mines of 
Cuba are located. The word "cobre," means copper. Here 
likewise, may be found a few survivors of the Aborigi- 
nees, called the Cobre Indians. 

On the north coast, in Camaguey province, there is a 
range of hills parallel to the ocean and about twenty miles 
distant from it, called the Cubitas Range. Between this 
range and the sea is the famous Cubitas Valley, which is 
noted for the depth and fertility of its soil. In the Cubi- 
tas Valley region are found the oldest and most prosperous 
American colonies. It is the typical American agricultural 
section of the Island. It was in this valley that the provi- 
soinal government of the insurgents was established in 
their struggle for independence. While this range is not 
more than 1,000 feet high at the most, there are, however, 
several mountain passes with precipitous sides and of great 
beauty. Taken as a whole, however, Cuba has little 
mountainous country, except in Santiago Province, The 
mountains are not rocky like our western mountains, but 
are fertile, and subject to cultivation where not too steep. 

All authorities agree that Cuba is the best watered of 
any tropical bit of land under the sun. Innumerable 
streams of clear, pure water pour down from the elevated 
interior into the ocean. All of the streams are well stocked 
with fish. The largest river is the Cauto which rises 
in the mountains in the Province of Santiago de Cuba and 
flows westward into the Gulf of Esperanza ; but the whole 
Island is well watered and well drained. In this respect, 
it presents a striking contrast to many parts of our south- 
ern states, where the land is flat and hardly rises above 
sea level. In the region of New Orleans, Galveston and 
many other southern points, digging ten or fifteen feet 
below the surface discloses salt water, and the rainfall is 

— 6 — 



depended upon for drinking water. Cuba lies high and 
dry, and in addition to its numerous fresh water streams, 
wells of fine drinking water are obtained by digging from 
fifteen to one hundred feet or more, as the case may be. 

Cuba excels in fine harbors and has them in great 
numbers. The entire southern coast is marshy except be- 
tween the cities of Trinidad and Cienfuegos and where 
the Maestre range rises precipitously from the sea. This 
marsh or low strip of coast is only a mile or two in width, 
except in the great Zapata Swamp south of Matanzas, 
which is 30 miles wide and about 70 miles long, an un- 
explored everglade. The northern coast is high and dry 
and in some places rapidly rises a hundred feet or more 
from sea level. 



HAVANA AND OTHER CITIES, 

To_adequately describe the cities of Cuba would re- 
quire a volume in itself, and I can touch upon this point 
but briefly. To begin with, Havana, with 300,000 popula- 
tion, is the undisputed metropolis, and easily surpasses all 
others in wealth, attractiveness and historical associations. 
From the time you pass Morro Castle, which stands sen- 
tinel like at the entrance of the narrow channel on the left, 
with the picturesque Malecon promenade on the right — 
until you have explored its extreme outposts, Havana is 
continually interesting and attractive. Havana Harbor 
might well be taken for a Mediterranean port with its 
varied and gay maritime features. Here may be found 
anchored, or coming and going, ships carrying the flags 
of all nations. An average of ten vessels arriving daily, 
indicates Havana's great shipping interests. Darting here 
and there will be found pleasure boats on the bay. The 
typical Cuban small passenger boat is the guadano, pro- 
pelled by oars, with a canopy in the stern to protect 
passengers from the sun. The superstructure of the Maine 
is still visible in the harbor, a mute reminder of one of 
the great tragedies in our naval history. 

The city, as a whole, is typically Spanish in general 
effect and coloring. Pinks, reds, greens, blues and yellows 
are used here . with pleasing effect, and there is striking 
contrast with the red tiles of Spanish roofs. The city is 
rich in historical associations. Numerous fortresses re- 



mind one of the struggles of early days. Here is La 
Fuerza, the oldest port, which has outlived the sacking 
of the city by pirates, its repeated captures by the French, 
and its occupation by the English in 1762. Morro Castle 
and its famous light which may be seen twenty miles out 
at sea ; Cabanas Fortress, built by slave labor, which oc- 
cupied twelve years in its building, and which cost more, 
than that many millions of dollars. This fortification is most 
interesting with its parapets and dungeons. Its "laurel 
walk" under Spanish rule was the last march of captured 
Cuban insurgents ; and its "dead line" provided human 
flesh for the sharks. Havana has gay theatres and stately 
cathedrals. The Christopher Columbus cathedral held the 
bones of the great discoverer for hundreds of years, until 
the Spaniards took the relics back with them to Spain. 
There are many beautiful parks and drives, bordered with 
noble palms and laurel trees. The Prado compares favor- 
ably with the Champs Elysee of Paris or Unter den Linden 
of Berlin. There are tropical gardens with fountains and 
statuary. In fact there is all that goes to make up a cosmo- 
politan Spanish city. It is a city of gaiety and pleasure, 
and is ever in holiday attire. Out of door life characterizes 
the city. In the open patios of houses and hotels, you are 
virtually out of doors. Cafes are wholly open on the 
street, being protected at night by closed shutters or iron 
grating. Many places of business are the same in this 
respect. Fine shops are found on Obispo and O'Reilly 
streets. Awnings are sometimes stretched straight across 
completely covering the narrow streets. Laces, jewelry, 
fans and shawls are especially displayed. In nearly all the 
better stores, English is spoken, and shopping is easy when 
you get accustomed to the double currency system. Cuba 
has no coinage of its own and uses our money as a stand- 
ard. Spanish money is also used, and articles are some- 
times marked in Spanish prices and sometimes in Ameri- 
can. All you need to know is the value of our dollar in 
Spanish money; but be sure to count your change. You 
may ride with small expense. Seventeen cents and a frac- 
tion, in our money, will take two people in a carriage from 
one point of the city to another. Cabs and cab men abound 
and all people of consequence ride in carriages. Until 
recently, Havana was the only city in Cuba with street 
cars. Think of cities of 50,000 population without these 
facilities. Havana has been the capital since 1552, the 

— 8 — 



seat of government having previously been at Santiago. 
Baraeoa was the first capital of the Island. 

Havana is remarkably clean and well cared for. It 
is well policed and there is little crime. In cleanliness and 
order it has no superior among American cities. 

While Havana is typically Spanish, Camaguey is- truly 
Cuban. It is the most important of the interior cities. It 
is verv ancient, and its appearance does not belie the fact. 
All the streets are narrow and crooked, a confusing laby- 
rinth of paths. The houses are low. Projecting wooden 
bars protect the windows, and the heavy roof tiles overhang 
the streets. The narrow ledge-like sidewalk may be a foot 
high in front of one house, and three feet high in front of 
the adjoining house, or absent altogether, according to the 
whim of the owner. Massive and crumbling masonry tells 
of former centuries. Everything is old. "A general flavor 
of mild decay," as Oliver Wendell Holmes would put it. 
Rail communication with Havana and Santiago has been 
a matter of but three years. Out of touch with Spanish 
influences, the customs and manners are typically Cuban. 
For the same reason the spirit of resistance to Spanish op- 
pression was ever strongest at Camaguey. This city was 
begun in 15 15, at the harbor of Nuevitas, and was called 
Puerto Principe. Here it was exposed to the attacks of 
pirates, who raided and pillaged it. Later the city was 
moved to its present interior location. It was once raided 
and sacked on its present site by the redoubtable pirate 
Morgan in the sixteenth century. After the establishment 
of the Republic, the name was changed to the native Indian 
term, Camaguey. 

In a word let me tell you something common to all 
Cuban cities, that you may better understand their plan of 
construction. In the center of every Cuban town you will 
find a square called the Plaza de Armas, or place of arms, 
generally "Plaza" for short. It was in this plaza that the 
cross was set up, the unvarying religious exercise which 
attended alike the discovery of a new continent or the 
humble beginnings of a home. The square served as a 
drill exercise ground for the soldiers and a place where 
religious processions might be formed. On the sides of the 
square were the government offices, the cathedral, and 
sometimes the soldiers' barracks. Around this square as a 
center the town grew and narrow streets, crooked and wind- 
ing, ran out from the square in every conceivable direction. 



To the visitor who first traverses these streets, its seems in- 
comprehensible how so many crooked, narrow and irregular 
streets could be contrived. The new parts of some of the 
Cuban cities are laid out on the rectangular plan, as in this 
country ; but the older cities present a street appearance not 
unlike the old parts of Boston and New York. 

After Havana, in the order of size, come Santiago, 
Camaguey and Matanzas, each having between 50,000 and 
60,000 population. Then comes Cienfuegos, Manzanillo and 
Cardenas ranging from 30,000 to 40,000. A new census is 
now being taken of Cuba under the direction of the United 
States authorities but the figures here given are approxi- 
mately correct. 

THE CUBAN HOUSE. 

The architecture is peculiarly Spanish adapted to tropi- 
cal conditions. The houses are low, usually of one story 
only, and the roofs are covered with heavy red Spanish 
tiles. Of 18,000 houses in Havana, 17,000 are one story 
high. Of the remainder very few are more than two stories 
high, with perhaps not more than a dozen exceeding three 
stories. There are four or five elevators used in Havana 
buildings and none elsewhere in the Island. In the houses 
of the rich the ceilings are very high and the floors covered 
with tiling or marble; in the poorer residences, the floors 
are brick. The houses are invariably flush with the street; 
the floors, as a rule, not being above the pavement, and 
sometimes being below it. Houses are usually constructed 
of stone or of a coarse cement. Window glass is practi- 
cally unknown. Windows on the grouud floor are pro- 
tected by heavy iron gratings, ofttimes wrought into pleas- 
ing patterns. This grating is sometimes built out in a 
sort of bay window effect. These iron bars give a forbid- 
ding aspect to the window. But to young Cuban couples 
it is the only sunshine in their whole heaven of courtship. 
Only with this railing between, may they see each other 
without the watchful and unnecessary chaperon. It is to 
them, therefore, the garden gate and front porch combined. 
Inside of the grating are blinds of the ordinary kind, with 
shutters that may be turned up or clown as occasion re- 
quires. In houses of the poorer people, solid window blinds 
serve both as protection against intruders by night and as 
a means of keeping out the sun. The windows in the sec- 

—10- 



ond story have shutters only, and often lead out onto a 
small balcony, a popular feature of the Cuban house. As 
a rule, houses are built around an open court or patio. The 
various rooms of the house open into this patio, which has 
cement or tile walks, with flowers and foliage in profusion. 
You will sometimes find a horse and carriage occupying a 
room near the general entrance of the house alongside the 
sleeping or living rooms occupied by members of the family. 

The furnishings of houses are simple in the extreme, 
and puritanic in plainness. There are no carpets or up- 
holstered furniture. Cane-seated chairs and rockers with 
a plain table or cane settee, comprise most of the furniture. 
They have a curious fashion of setting these chairs in rows 
facing each other in the middle of the room. If there be 
children, smaller chairs back of these, nearer the wall, in- 
dicate their places. A glance into a Cuban parlor gives the 
impression that arrangements have been made to hold a 
meeting. Cuban beds are clean and sanitary, but not so 
luxurious as those in the States. A simple iron or wooden 
frame covered with springs, over which a blanket is placed, 
constitutes the bed. A long roll filled with cotton serves as 
a pillow, and a light covering is sufficient to protect from 
the cool nights. Hotels and public places are built on the 
general plan just given; but the patio is larger and more 
imposing. The ceilings are high, and rooms could easily 
be sliced horizontally, making two stories. 

The poor man's house in the country is more primi- 
tive. The sidej- wjilkc are made of the bark of the royal 
palm, fastened by fibrous bark and twigs. The roof is 
thatched with palm leaves, which are the standard Cuban 
shingles. The better houses have a board floor raised from 
the ground two or three feet, under which the pigs and 
chickens roam freely. The roof often projects, porch-like, 
beyond the inclosed rooms, and the open space underneath 
serves as kitchen, dining room and parlor. 

THE CUBAN'S DAILY LIFE. 

How does the Cuban live amid these strange tropical 
surroundings? The first meal in the morning is called 
"desajuno." It may be translated as early breakfast. This 
consists of fruit, coffee with milk, and rolls or bread. The 
Cubans do not use cream. Sometimes, but not generally 
with the native Cubans, butter is used. His next meal is 

—11- 



called "almuerzo," and may be translated as regular break- 
fast. This corresponds with our ordinary luncheon. It 
consists of various vegetables, fish, eggs, meats broiled or 
roasted, salad, dessert and coffee. Their next meal, taken 
between five and eight in the evening, is "comida," and 
corresponds with our dinner. This is much like the pre- 
ceding meal, but, if anything, more elaborate, beginning 
with-soup and extending through quite a number of courses. 
Unlike Mexican cooking, Cuban dishes are not full of 
pepper. 

Niow something about the cooking. The bread is deli- 
cious. It is more solid than our ordinary baker's bread 
and is baked in loaves two or three feet long, weighing five 
or six pounds. Its fine flavor is ascribed to the fact that 
banana stalks are used in fermenting the yeast. Butter, if 
found at all, is generally imported from Denmark or the 
United States, and is not much used by the natives. But 
a few Cubans and a number of Americans have gone into 
the dairying business recently with large profit to them- 
selves. Butter is 50 cents a pound. Rice is boiled with 
chicken, used in curries and introduced in a variety of ways 
into many dishes. It is one of the principal articles of diet 
with the poorer Cubans, and is never absent from their 
tables. Eggs are of most delicious flavor, and are prepared 
in a great number of inviting ways. The same is true of 
fish, never found better anywhere. The meats, as a rule, 
do not equal the best grades of meat in this country. Such 
fruits as orang-es and grape fruit far excel such fruits in 
the United States. The grape fruit particularly is a revela- 
tion to the northerner. It has a delicious flavor, free from 
bitterness and extreme sourness. In Cuba it is generally 
eaten without sugar. The other native Cuban fruits are 
good or bad, according to varying tastes. It is difficult to 
describe them. 

The Cuban does not lead a strenuous life. He is 
ready for business at 9:30 or 10 o'clock in the morning, 
and continues until the time of "almuerzo," let us say at 
12 o'clock. After this, he takes a rest or siesta until 1 :3c 
or 2 o'clock. Then he is ready for business again until 4 
or 5 o'clock. In the evening, he may attend the theatre. 
The Cubans are fond of the stage, and know what is good 
in drama and opera. The curious custom obtains in some 
theatres of buying tickets for a single act or "portandas." 
A consecutive performance, such as drama, is called "fun- 

—12— 



cion sequida." But at a vaudeville entertainment, one may 
buy a ticket for, and attend, a certain act only ; or one may 
have one seat for one act and another for another. 

As to women, the European code prevails. A lady 
must not be seen alone on the street, but must have a male 
escort who, of course, must be a relative. The ladies go out 
to drive or to shop in the afternoon, and receive calls both in 
the afternoon and in the evening. 

Sunday is a day of sport and merry making. Relig- 
ious exercises in the morning are usually attended by the 
women only, in a sort of vicarious way for the whole popu- 
lation. While Sunday is enjoyed in the freest way possible, 
some of the saints' days are religiously observed, many 
shops and places of business being closed. . There is an 
appalling number of saints' days shown in the Cuban calen- 
dar, but there is not much uniformity in the observance of 
them . 

PERSONAL AND RACIAL TRAITS. 

The Cuban is easy going in disposition, with a tendency 
to procrastinate in all affairs. "Manana," meaning "to- 
morrow," is perhaps the most frequently spoken word in 
the language. It is the formula for indefinite daily post- 
ponement. They apparently have the old maxim reversed, 
and it runs with them : "Never do today, anything that 
can be put off until tomorrow." "Ahorita," literally, "right 
away," means anywhere from five minutes to two years. 
Cuban laborers are never in a hurry, and the Cuban farmer 
apparently lacks energy and ambition. This is not merely 
because nature raises his crops, requiring little effort on 
his part. For three hundred years, the farming class of 
Cuba has been obliged to contribute to the government, 
everything produced in excess of a bare living. The Cu- 
bans are peaceful by nature and domestic in habits. Cafes 
and amusement parks abound. In these places soft drinks, 
and sometimes stronger ones, are sold. They are remark- 
ably temperate and a drunken Cuban is scarcely if ever seen 
in a cafe or amusement resort. It is to be regretted that the 
same is not true of many of the visiting Americans. 

The Cubans are fond of amusements and games. The 
bull fight, before its suppression, constituted one of their 
principal sports, it having been early introduced from Spain. 
The great national game, however, was the cock fight. This 

-^13— 



was to the native Cuban what shooting craps is to our 
colored population, or baseball to the small boy on the 
corner lot. To the great grief of the mass of Cubans, cock 
fighting has also been abolished by law. The protest made 
against the abolishment of this sport and the efforts to 
have it reinstituted, may seem ludicrous to the northerner. 
There was a great demonstration in Havana, at which me- 
morials and addresses were presented to Gov. Magoon 
and which ended with a procession through the streets, 
bearing banners conveying sentiments favorable to the re- 
establishment of the national sport. They could almost 
organize a political party in Cuba on the cock fight issue. 
A prominent Cuban planter seriously put forth the follow- 
ing argument, in favor of re-establishing the sport. He 
called attention to the fact that the Cuban laborer is natur- 
ally indolent. He works only as much as compelled to. It 
was pointed out that, under present conditions, about four 
days a week suffices to provide him and his family with the 
necessaries of life. With the cock fight in vogue, this 
planter urged, he would be induced to work every day in 
the week, in order to have funds to bet on the national 
game. 

The Cubans are naturally dignified and polite. They 
are profuse in expressions of friendship and hospitality, and 
are somewhat given to exaggerated compliment and hyper- 
bole. Upon first being introduced to you, a Cuban may 
assure you that he is your servant to the ends of the earth. 
A gentleman says to a lady, "At your feet, madam ;" where- 
upon she replies, "I kiss your hand." Of course, he does 
not literally put 'himself at the lady's feet, nor does she 
kiss his hand. In seeking an introduction to a lady, a 
young man very properly says, "Put me at the lady's feet." 
If you admire a picture or other article in a Cuban's house, 
he may at once say, "It is yours." You are not however, 
expected to take it away with you. 

As a race, the Cubans are fond of display and inclined 
toward officialdom. Uniforms mean a great deal to them, 
and gold lace and braid are regarded with a degree of vene- 
ration. The Cuban funeral is a gorgeous function. Horses 
and funeral hearses are alike comparisoned in brilliant col- 
ors, giving anything but a somber aspect to the affair. 
Vaults in cemeteries are rented for a short term of years, 
usually five or six ; after which the bones are unceremoni- 
ously removed, and the vault made ready for another 

tenant. 

—14— 



You may see street venders selling notions, pictures, 
shoes, milk and vegetables on the streets. Beggars abound, 
but are not so troublesome and insistent as in Italy and 
Spain. 

Education is not universal and the mass of Cubans are 
illiterate. The Spanish system neither supported schools, 
nor encouraged them. The Cuban republic, however, in- 
stituted a common school system like that of the United 
States. Those who have had the benefits of education, 
compare favorably with the educated classes in other coun- 
tries. No finer type of statesman can be found than Manuel 
Ramon Silva, Governor of Camaguey Province, or Rafael 
Montoro of Havana. No more able captain of industry can 
be found than Bernabe Sanchez of Senado. Many times 
a millionaire, he owns immense tracts of cane land, a large 
sugar mill, and in addition, the entire town of Senado, a 
city of some 3,000 people. So just and wise has been his 
treatment of his employes, that there has never been a strike 
or labor trouble in his mills or plantations. Manuel San- 
guily is conspicuous as a man of letters. Pablo Desvernine, 
the accomplished attorney, is a man of scholarly attain- 
ments. Enrique Jose Varona is known by his writings in 
philosophy. Aniceto Menocal is the great Cuban engineer. 
The world will not soon forget the work of Dr. Carlos F. 
Finlay, in discovering the secret of yellow fever transmis- 
sion Among the democratic leaders of men must be men- 
tioned Alfredo Zayas and Jose Miguel Gomez, unostenta- 
tious but able. Cuba has many distinguished sons. I men- 
tion only the few of whom I know something in particular. 

Racially considered, the Cubans must be regarded as 
descendants of the Spaniards and other European nations. 
The Aboriginal Indians were quickly exterminated and little 
of their blood is found in the Cubans today. Like the 
Spaniards, they are small in stature, as a rule,, with dark 
hair and eyes, and strikingly show the Moorish strain in the 
Spanish blood. 

Slavery brought many Africans into the island. At 
the present time the negro population is about 32 per cent 
of the whole, or about the same per cent as obtains in the 
city of Washington. This is a much smaller ratio than 
exists in our southern states. Furthermore, the negro ele- 
ment shows a tendency to relatively decrease in Cuba. In 
1850, the blacks were 50 per cent of the population. The 
reason for this decline has not been satisfactorily explained. 

—15— 



There will never be a black peril in Cuba. There is some 
intermarriage between the negroes and Cubans, and the 
blended race is a far better product than comes from the 
negro and Anglo-Saxon. Socially in Cuba, the negro has 
been the white man's equal. Some traces of color line may 
be found in the fact that negroes frequent certain pleasure 
resorts at times when white people do not attend, but there 
is no prejudice or bitterness shown. This is in striking con- 
trast to conditions in our southern states. 



CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. 

Perhaps Cuba has been more universally praised than 
any other land under the sun. It has been called the Pearl 
of the Sea, the Gem of the Antilles, the Land of Perpetual 
June. An abundance of verdure and a profusion of flowers 
make all parts of the island beautiful. Cuba has some 
splendid scenery that should be specially noted. The Yu- 
muri Valley in Matanzas province is one of the most beau- 
tiful and fruitful tracts imaginable. Humboldt called it 
the loveliest valley in the world. A view from the Monser- 
rate Hermitage will confirm his statement. The lofty 
Maestra range, culminating in the Turquino peak, presents, 
a mountain picture of great majesty. The range rises pre- 
cipitously from the sea and the tropical blue green of the 
sea blends with the verdant green of the mountains. The 
cascades of Santa Clara are famed for their beauty. Cien- 
fuegos presents a magnificent view of a land-locked harbor, 
surrounded by gently rising hills. The Grand Pass in the 
Cubitas Mountains rivals Colorado scenery in picturesque- 
ness, and the view from the top of these mountains to the 
sea is beautiful and inspiring. As a whole, the land of 
sunshine, fruit and flowers, has been the astonishment and 
delight of all travelers. 

The climate of Cuba explains this charm. Never in- 
tensely hot and never cold, its constant June-like weather, 
is the most delightful in the world. The close proximity 
of the ocean and the pleasant sea breezes, give even in the 
summer, a lower temperature than obtains in our northern 
cities. The maximum temperature ever observed in Havana 
was ioo degrees ; the lowest, 49 degrees above zero. Con- 
trast this with the maximum and minimum temperatures 
observed in the principal cities of the United States. Chi- 
cago, 103 in summer, and 23 below zero in the winter, a_ 



164 



difference between extremes of 126 degrees. Fractions of 
degrees are omitted in all cases. Havre, Montana, close to 
the Canadian line has a maximum in summer of 108, and 
a minimum in winter of 55 below, 163 degrees between ex- 
tremes ! The same is relatively true of our other cities. 
These extremes of heat and cold are not only disagreeable, 
but fatal. Thousands die in the United States each year 
from sun-stroke and effects of heat, particularly in the large 
cities, during the hot season. Fatalities also result from 
freezing and the effects of cold. Sun-stroke in Cuba is 
practically unknown. 

Nor do the most favored regions of the United States 
compare with Cuba in uniformity of climate. Los Angeles 
has shown a maximum of 109 in summer, and a minimum 
in winter of 28 above — 81 degrees between extremes, as 
against an extreme variation of 51 degrees in Havana Jack- 
sonville, Florida, has indicated 104 in summer and 10 above 
in winter. Ten degrees above not only kills blossoms and 
leaves, but utterly destroys citrus fruit trees, root and 
branch. Denver has shown an extreme of 105 in summer, 
and 29 below in winter. The temperature given for Ameri- 
can cities are furnished by the Weather Bureau at Wash- 
ington ; those for Cuba are given by the Central Station of 
the Republic. 

It seems strange that Cuba, which lies wholly within 
the tropics should be so cool in summer and so warm in 
winter. The reason is found in the fact that the island is 
a long, narrow strip of land, all parts of which are con- 
stantly under the influence of sea breezes. The surround- 
ing ocean has, at all times, a temperature of about 70 de- 
grees. The prevailing winds are from the northeast, with 
a velocity of about eight miles an hour. This makes the 
north coast the most favored part of this favored island. 
There is never any frost except it be on the tops of the 
highest mountains. The average temperature for January 
may be put at 70 degrees, and the average for July at 82 
degrees. 

Another explanation of Cuba's beauty and richness is 
found in the abundant rainfall. The average is'* about 55 
inches per year, being fairly uniform over the island. This 
is a heavy rainfall as compared with that which obtains in 
most parts of the United States. The rainfall at Chicago 
is about 33 inches a year; at New York, about 44. The 
rainfall in southern California is about 16 inches a year. 

—17— 



An abundant rainfall may suggest a great many rainy days, 
and a good deal of disagreeable weather in consequence. 
But comparative figures are interesting : The average num- 
ber of rainy days in the year, at Boston, is 133. The average 
at New York, 127. The average is 131 rainy days out of 
the year at Chicago. The average at Havana is 120 in the 
entire year. Thus, with a heavier rainfall, there are fewer 
rainy days than obtains in most parts of the United States, 
with the exception of the semi-arid portion in the extreme 
southwest. There are two seasons, the wet and the dry. 
Reversing the order in California, the wet season is in the 
summer, from June to October inclusive, and the dry season 
in the winter. There is in reality no dry season, the rain- 
fall in winter being only less abundant than in the summer 
time. As a matter of fact, there is more rainfall in the so- 
called dry season in Cuba, than falls during the entire year 
in southern California. The peculiarity of the rainfall in 
the wet season is that showers come almost invariably be- 
tween one and five o'clock in the afternoon. The rainfall 
in the winter consists generally of heavy showers during 
the night. 

SUGAR AND TOBACCO. 

The leading products of Cuba are sugar and tobacco, 
which at the present time tremendously overshadow all 
others. Of Cuba's $110000,000 of exports, sugar and its 
derived products, average about 65 per cent. Tobacco in 
its various forms, about 25 per cent, leaving 10 per cent for 
all other exports, such as citrus fruits, bananas, pineapples, 
cocoanuts, iron and copper ore, sponges, fish and hard- 
woods. The figures given are not exact as applied to any 
one year, but the general average for recent years. Nearly 
one-half of the cane sugar of the world is raised in Cuba ; 
and nowhere does sugar cane grow more luxuriantly or of 
better quality. Instead of requiring replanting every two 
or three years, as obtains in our southern states, one plant- 
ing in Cuba will suffice for ten or twelve years. An average 
of a million tons of sugar is produced on something like 
400,000 acres of land. As a matter of fact, 47 per cent of 
the cultivated land of the island is planted to sugar cane. 
Sugar cane was introduced into the island soon after its 
discovery, and has been raised with success in every province. 
The growing and manufacture of sugar is of necessity done 

—18— 



on a large scale. A sugar mill, with its extensive and com- 
plicated machinery, costs from a quarter of a million dol- 
lars upwards. It is a crop, therefore, which can be advan- 
tageously handled only by the wealthy planter or by cor- 
porations. Some cane has been grown by the small farmer 
which has been offered to the mills for grinding, but this 
has not proved satisfactory. Furthermore, the small land 
owner can get much larger returns from other crops. 

Tobacco is indigenous. Columbus found the natives con- 
tentedly smoking the weed. Tobacco of good quality is 
grown generally in all provinces. The famous Vuelta 
Abajo section in Pinar del Rio province, and the Tum- 
badero tract in southwestern Havana province are world 
famed for the quality of tobacco produced. The cultiva- 
tion of the plant is in the main similar to that in vogue in 
the United States. Planting is generally in September, and 
harvesting in January, at least for the first or main crop. 
Some of the finest tobacco produced has been raised under 
covering of cheese cloth, about seven feet above the ground, 
completely covering the field. This tempers the rays of the 
sun, tends to keep the moisture in the earth, protects against 
the wind and against the tobacco moth and other insects. 
Nearly all of the leaves so raised may be used for wrappers. 
The cost of covering with cheese cloth is about $300 per 
acre In general, it may be said that Cuba does not have 
climatic or product zones. The small size and peculiar 
shape of the island gives a uniformity of conditions in every 
part. The one exception to this, like the celebrated grape 
regions of France, is found in the places mentioned above, 
where remarkably fine tobacco is grown. Agricultural sci- 
ence has been, as yet, unable to discover the secret of this 
excellence. The product of a single acre of tobacco in this 
specially favored region has brought from $4,000 to $5,000. 
There are greater profits in tobacco raising than in the 
raising of cane, but the risks are commensurably greater. 

CITRUS FRUITS. 

The American colonization of the Island particularly 
in the rich valleys of the north coast, has given an impetus 
to the growing of citrus fruits. This is assuredly nature's 
home for the orange and lemon, for these fruits are found 
growing wild in the thickets. With a soil like that of 
Riverside, California, only richer and deeper, with an 

—19— 



abundant rainfall and no need of irrigation, citrus fruits 
can be raised abundantly and profitably. The young grape 
fruit or orange trees come into bearing two years earlier 
than in California or Florida. Lemons from the Cubitas 
district have brought the highest prices in New York. Fur- 
thermore, the trees bear a greater quantity of fruit and of 
a finer flavor. The Florida frosts which have several times 
ruined the citrus fruit groves in that state, and the remote- 
ness of Southern California from the markets, make Cuba 
the most favored spot in the world for the cultivation of 
citrus fruits. It must be remembered that no citrus fruits 
can be grown in Southern California except by irrigation. 
The water problem is the serious one which confronts that 
prosperous and beautiful section of the United States. The 
things, however, which have made Southern California so 
prosperous, exist in greater abundance and in greater per- 
fection in Cuba. Above all else, proximity to the world's 
markets is tremendously in favor of the little Republic. Prac- 
tically the first systematic attempt at citrus fruit culture in 
Cuba' was made by the American colonists, with results that 
bid fair to make the Island the great citrus fruit garden 
of the world. 

CASSAVA (YUCCA). 

A very important product of Cuban soil is the cassava 
or yucca. It is a large root or tuber, something like a 
coarse potato but containing much more starch. It is used 
for the manufacture of starch, in feeding dairy and beef 
cattle, and hogs, and also by the Cubans as food for the 
table. 

The United States Government, in a special report on 
Cassava, says : 

"It has been demonstrated to be the cheapest food for 
hogs and cattle, while it produces better starch than corn 
and potatoes. Several factories for making it into starch 
have met with such success that other factories have been 
established. It can be utilized in more ways, can be sold 
in more different forms, can be more cheaply converted into 
staple and finished products and can be produced for a 
smaller part of its selling price than any other crop." 

"It is unquestionably true that cassava, all things con- 
sidered, comes nearer to supplying a perfect ration for 
farm stock than any other food." 

—20— 



Exhaustive tests were made by the Government in 
feeding corn and cassave to hogs. The percentage of gain 
was 70 per cent for corn, against 95 per cent for cassava. 
The difference between the two is about 25 per cent in 
favor of feeding cassava to hogs. 

Counting the market value of cassava at $6.00 per ton, 
the result shows the actual cost of the meat, per pound, was 
1.4 cents where cassava was used, and 3.6 cents per pound 
where corn was used. 

The actual cost of producing cassava in Florida is 
about $2.00 per ton. The yield is about seven tons to the 
acre, and cassava is one of the money crops of Florida. 
The yield in Cuba is from 15 to 20 tons per acre, where it 
grows continuously without replanting. In the Cubitas Val- 
ley the yield is reported to have reached the astonishing 
figure of 80 tons per acre ! What an opportunity for starch 
factories.. 



TIMBER AND HARD WOODS. 

Just a word as to Cuba's wealth of forest. Of the 
Island's twenty-eight million acres, nearly one-half is still 
covered with forest. The whole island was a forest when 
the Spaniards discovered it. The greater portion of the 
standing timber now in the island is in the province of 
Camaguey and Santiago. 

Of the many useful woods produced some are worthy 
of special mention. There are many varieties of palm, of 
which the cocoanut and royal palms are the most valuable. 
The latter is used in many ways. From its bark, the native 
makes the walls of his humble dwelling. The leaves are 
used to thatch the roof ; also hats and baskets are made from 
them. Articles of use and ornament are made from the 
wood, which takes a fine polish. The clusters of small 
knots "palmeche," furnish food for hogs. While the tender 
shoots at the tufted top serve as a vegetable for the table, 
tasting not unlike cauliflower. To the root is attributed 
medicinal virtue. Is it any wonder that the natives call it 
the "blessed tree?" The royal palm is most imposing. Its 
whitish, gray trunk, smooth and straight, rises forty or 
fifty feet, and is crowned with a bright green mass of long, 
graceful plume-like leaves. Nothing is more stately and 
majestic than an avenue of royal palms. 

—21— 



Mahogany, Cuban cedar, majagua, sabacu, jiqui, ebony, 
rosewood and many other fine, hard woods abound. Pines 
are also found, especially in the western end of the island. 
Pinar del Rio means, literally, "Pine grove of the river." 
There are great possibilities of wealth in these forests. 
Mahogany is very valuable, and Cuban cedar, from which 
cigar boxes are made, is even more valuable than ordinary 
mahogany. Caguairan and jiqui last in the ground like 
iron. Cuia is the most durable of all woods in the water. 
While the forests of the United States are being fast de- 
pleted, there is still in Cuba, a great abundance of timber 
suitable for the finest furniture, for railway ties or for 
building lumber. 



OTHER PRODUCTS. 

The cocoanut is the best lazy man's crop on the island. 
From ioo to 150 trees are put on an acre and each tree at 
maturity, bears nuts valued from $1.00 to $2.00 per annum. 
The trees begin to bear in five or six years. Cocoanuts re- 
quire no cultivation after, getting started, and small crops 
may also be raised between the trees. A minimum of labor 
is required in harvesting the crop, which consists merely in 
gathering up the nuts as they fall from the trees, and get- 
ting them to the seaboard. Not being a perishable product, 
the cocoanuts can await a convenient time for shipping or a 
favorable market. From Baracoa are shipped, annually, 
cocoanuts to the value of $200,000 or more. Large mills 
are located at Baracoa, where the smaller nuts are made 
into cocoanut oil or cocoanut butter. The outer husk is 
also utilized for coarse mattings. 

Cuba produces all vegetables grown in the United 
States. Under the influence of favorable climate and soil, 
many of these grow wild, and most of them will grow with 
little care. American colonists have been very successful 
in raising winter vegetables for the northern markets ; and 
this industry promises to be a most important one. 

Indian corn is profitably grown in Cuba. Two crops 
a year are generally raised, and three crops have been ob- 
tained from the same land in one year. The corn is of 
good quality and is preferred to corn imported from the 
States. Not enough corn is produced, however, to supply 
the wants of the Island. And this has been raised with 
little care or attention to the matter of planting or cultiva- 

—22— .-•.: 



tion. Modern methods of cultivation will bring for the 
American farmer enormous profits in corn raising in Cuba. 
Rice is also produced of good quality, but not enough to 
supply the native's table. The kind grown is the upland 
or dry land rice. 

Cuba excels in fibre plants, chief of which are hene- 
quen, lengua de vaca and ramie. It may be noted as one 
of Nature's wise economies that henequin will grow on the 
dry Savanas where other plants would hardly live. Exten- 
sive fibre and cordage plants are supplied by these products. 
Excellent cordage is also made from the bark of the ma- 
jagua tree, the wood of which is very valuable. 

The agucate or alligator pear, is well known in the 
north to the lovers of salad. Likewise the guava from 
which delicious jellies are made. Other Cuban fruits are 
the mamey, mango, papaya, sapota, chirimoya, lime, ma- 
moncillo, guanabana, anona or sweet sop, caimito or star 
apple, the tamarind and pomegranate. Cuba produces all 
the fruits grown in the United States, with the exception 
of apples. 

The bananas constitute an important product, all of 
the exports going to the United States. While they grow 
freely all over the island, they are best raised near the 
coast, not merely on account of shipping facilities, but be- 
cause they are well adapted to low land. The ordinary 
yellow or red bananas are the kinds grown for export. In 
addition a very fine dwarf or fig banana is grown, but this 
is consumed on the island. 

In early days, Cuba supplied excellent coffee to the 
United States. Now hardly enough is raised for home con- 
sumption, cane and tobacco having been raised to the prac- 
tical exclusion of everything else. An important product is 
the cacao tree, from which chocolate is made. This flour- 
ishes most in the eastern provinces and is a growing indus- 
try. CofTee, chocolate and tea may be seen growing in the 
same garden. 

Cuba is particularly adapted to cattle raising, and here 
again is the anomaly of meat imported into Cuba. The late 
war practically took all the cattle in the island, and Cuba 
must import meats until its pastures are restocked. The 
native guinea and parana grasses are the best in the world. 
With pastures green the year round, and without the ex- 
pense of fodder and housing in the winter, Cuba should be 
the cattle men's paradise. 

—23— 



The mineral wealth of Cuba is worthy of our attention. 
Copper has been the leading product of the mines. Under 
Spanish rule, the reports show copper exports to the value 
of $45,000,000. Iron ore of the finest quality is found. A 
New Jersey firm uses Cuban iron ore exclusively for the 
manufacture of fine steel. $2,500,000 worth of iron ore is 
imported from Cuba annually, and other iron mines are be- 
ing developed. Marble of good quality is found in some 
places. Asphalt beds have been developed in the regions 
of Trinidad and Holguin. Coal has likewise been discover- 
ed ; but the abundance of wood and the cheap cost of char- 
coal has rendered the exploitation of coal unnecessary. 

THE AMERICAN INVASION. 

Shortly after the establishment of the Republic, Ameri- 
can capital began to flow into the island, for the develop- 
ment of all its varied industries. Americans established 
mercantile houses and banks, started factories, built rail- 
roads, and planted orange groves. The blight of Spanish 
control having passed, the prosperous development of a 
land under such favorable natural conditions, became in- 
evitable. No attempt at detailed account of exploitations 
in the, various fields referred to will be made here. Some 
account of the American colonists who have been raising 
citrus fruits, vegetables, etc., will be of interest. 

It was the privilege of the writer, last winter, to visit 
a number of these American colonies. Nothing could bet- 
ter indicate the widespread interest in Cuba, than the per- 
sonnel of the party making this trip. There was a live stock 
man from Montana, an orange grower from southern Cali- 
fornia, a congressman from Chicago a land dealer from 
Dakota, and a preacher from Alabama, eight or ten sections 
of the country being represented in a party of twelve. We 
visited La Gloria, the oldest and one of the largest of the 
American colonies on the island. This colony furnishes a 
most striking example of success under difficulties and dis- 
advantages. The serious charges against the early manage- 
ment of this company were apparently well founded. The 
colonists were landed in a virgin forest, where they found 
themselves with scant facilities for getting supplies and 
equipments for building houses, clearing the forests, or 
cultivating the soil, to say nothing of the transportation 
problem. Unpreparedness in every respect, marked the be- 

—24— 



ginning of this settlement. If ever a colony faced condi- 
tions that warranted failure, it was La Gloria, and still it 
succeeded. Soil and climate finally overcame the many dis- 
advantages, which preparation could have avoided. It is 
now a flourishing village of eight or ten hundred people, 
with a church, school house, hotels and stores of various 
kinds. There is also a daily mail and an American news- 
paper. They now have a steamboat of their own connect- 
ing them with Neuvitas. Many stories were told of early 
hardship and privation. One man landed with his goods 
and $10 in money. He has made, in five years, a fine suc- 
cess and owns ioo acres of land, a fine orange grove and 
many domestic animals. Another man, an orange grower 
of Florida, frozen out in that state, landed with his family 
and $30 in cash, his total resources. He is now prosperous. 
There is now a chain of American colonies through the 
Cubitas Valley district. The colonists who now go to that 
region will not find themselves strangers in a strange land. 
Finer fruit cannot be seen anywhere in the world, and 
vegetables, corn, etc., are grown successfully. 



WHAT ATTRACTS COLONISTS. 

What are the conditions which have attracted Ameri- 
can colonists to Cuba? Some of the conspicuous advan- 
tages of the island, which have appealed strongly to the 
home seekers are : 

1. Immunity from dangerous animals, reptiles and in- 
sects. Unlike most tropical countries, there are no savage 
beasts in Cuba, nor are there snakes or insects whose bite 
is dangerous. There is nothing in nature to threaten the 
colonist nor to menace his domestic animals. Mosquitoes, 
flies and other insects, which are annoying on the coast, are 
rarely found in the interior. One may travel through the 
forests for days without seeing a spider's web. This is in 
striking contrast to Mexico, Central and South America, 
where serpents and insects abound whose sting is death, 
and where dangerous wild beasts are in the forests. 

2. A mild and salubrious climate. No intense cold 
with its physical discomforts and increased cost of living, 
heavy clothing and coal bills. Fully half the savings of 
the poor man in the north must be used in the winter to 
offset the effects of a cold climate. Whether rich or poor, 
whether he buys his own coal or pays an increased rent for 

—25— 



a heated apartment, every northerner pays a heavy tribute 
to the Ice King, from November until May. As a mattei 
of fact, we are rapidly using up our fuel supply. James J. 
Hill, the railway magnate, has more than once sounded a 
note of warning in regard to the depletion of our coal fields 
and forests. Thomas A. Edison, the great scientist, in an 
interview at Njew York, May 21, 1907, said: "Unless sci- 
ence takes hold of and finds something, some force, that 
will run our engines and light and heat our houses, as a 
substitute for coal, it takes no prophet to foresee that our 
grandchildren will be forced to live in a world that is desti- 
tute of heat and light, except as these blessings are given 
to them by the sun." 

3. A soil of wonderful depth and richness. Robert 
T. Hill, the eminent geologist, calls them "fertile calcareous 
soils, red and black in color, and of a quality and depth un- 
equaled in the world." The Encyclopedia Americana says : 
"In quality, in depth, * * * these soils are unrivaled 
in the world. It is quite certain that they have no rival 
in any land whose situation is equally favorable for cheap 
and easy transportation to markets." Wells have been dug 
in the Cubitas Valley, 20 feet deep to water, running all 
the way through pure soil. In the region of Havana similar 
soil has been cultivated for 300 years before being ex- 
hausted. 

4. The possibility of two or more crops a year. Two 
crops of corn, potatoes, onions, and other vegetables. Na- 
ture is active every month of the year in Cuba, and the soil 
is so strong that it needs no rest. 

5. All tropical products are possible, and many of 
the products of the northern zone can be raised easily and 
with great profit. 

6. The small degree of care and attention required 
to produce results. Where nature does so much, less is 
required of man. A striking example of this is found in 
the native method of growing crops. An opening in the 
ground is made with a pointed stick,, in which the seed or 
portion of root is placed. This constitutes planting in the 
Cuban sense of the term. This is done between the stumps 
of trees oft times with no plowing or other cultivation what- 
ever. With American methods and improved machinery 
what may not reasonably be expected from so favorable a 
climate and soil. In passing, contrast these advantages with 
the conditions that confronted the early settlers of New 

England. 

—26- 



J. Special adaptation for citrus fruits. The great 
citrus fruit markets of the United States are east of the 
Mississippi River, where the bulk of the population is. 
Florida, on account of heavy freezes which have ruined the 
groves, cannot be considered in the matter of citrus fruit 
competition. Cuba, however, is much nearer to New York 
than is Southern California or Western Mexico. It is 
also nearer Chicago. The force that will move a ton upon 
rails, will move four tons upon the water, and there are no 
railroads to be constructed on the ocean. The cheaper cost 
of transportation from Cuba to our eastern ports, more than 
offsets the duty on the Cuban fruit, leaving all the natural 
conditions in favor of the Cuban product. 

Will the development of Cuba overdo the citrus fruit 
business ? Please remember that the whole island is smaller 
than our average western state. The great country to the 
northwest of us has hardly begun to be developed. We may 
reclaim many millions of acres of our arid land in the west- 
ern states. Our country and Canada can and will, easily 
sustain, ten times the present population. But the develop- 
ment of the great northwest will not add one acre to the 
ground that will grow oranges. Nature has irrevocably 
drawn the line where citrus fruits may be produced. She 
has apparently unkindly decreed that Florida shall not raise 
oranges ; and thus the last decade has actually reduced our 
citrus fruit area. Citrus fruit lands in Southern California, 
where sufficient water can be obtained, are worth from $250 
to $500 per acre. Better land in Cuba in small tracts, sells 
from $25 to $50 per acre. There is no reason why lands 
in Cuba, which are now ridiculously cheap, should not, with 
the development of the island, be as high if not higher in 
price, than similar lands in southern California. An abund- 
ant rainfall and nearness to the world's markets, should 
make the Cuban lands more valuable than California fruit 
lands. 

HEALTH AND SANITATION. 

Is Cuba healthful ? It has no extremes of heat or cold ; 
it is not low and marshy, but lies high and is well drained; 
it has abundance of fresh, pure streams and no standing, 
stagnant water. There are the natural conditions that make 
for healthfulness. Under Spanish rule, however, there was 
no attempt at sanitation ; filth abounded and the cities were 

—27— 



veritable breeding places of sickness in all its forms. Dur- 
ing the first American occupation, the cities were cleansed 
and the most thorough of sanitary measures applied. At 
the present time the cities of Cuba are as wholesome and 
healthful as are the cities of the United States. 

Medical science has taught us that health does not de- 
pend in any great degree, upon temperature, altitude or 
latitude. London today, is one of the healthiest of large 
cities, but in olden times it was depopulated again and again 
by the black plague and colera, before it learned the lesson 
of cleanliness, and stopped throwing slops and refuse into 
the streets to putrify and spread contagion. 

The average death rate of the cities of Havana, Man- 
tanzas, Camaguey and Santiago, is 19.5 per 1,000 of popula- 
tion. This is somewhat higher than the average for all the 
cities of the United States. Camaguey, however, shows a 
death rate of only about 14.5 to the 1,000 of population. 
Two facts of great importance must be borne in mind in 
comparing the mortality of Cuban cities with those of the 
United States. It would be manifestly unfair to compare 
the old cities with the young western cities of the United 
States, which have an unusually large proportion of young 
people. Also it must be remembered that the death rate of 
the negro population, both in Cuba and in the United States, 
is very high. Comparisons, therefore should be made with 
the older cities of the United States, and with those that 
have a negro element in the population. The death rate of 
cities of the United States having 10 per cent or more of 
negro population, is 20 per thousand, as against 19.5 per 
thousand for the four large Cuban cities referred to. Of 
these, Havana shows the hig-hest mortality, the rate being 
21.2. But San Francisco is 20.1 per thousand; New Or- 
leans shows 23.7; Mobile, 25.2; Atlanta, 24.1; Jacksonville, 
28.7, and Charleston, S. C , 29 per thousand of population. 

With the cleansing of the cities, yellow fever practi- 
cally disappeared. The mortality from this disease has 
been greatly 7 exaggerated. It was never known in many 
places in the interior. Under Spanish rule, at its worst, 
not half as many deaths resulted from yellow fever as from 
consumption ; and the mortality from consumption has al- 
ways been proportionately less in Cuba than in the United 
States. It must be remembered that since the establishment 
of the Republic the most modern of sanitary appliances and 
methods have been vigorously enforced. 

—28— 



RELATION TO UNITED STATES. 

Attention has been called to the fact that Cuba takes 
her place among the nations of the world as a ward of the 
United States. There are no reasons why this close rela- 
tionship should be dissolved, and many reasons that call 
for a closer one : — 

I. From a commercial view point, Cuba is very im- 
portant. Lying between North and South America, it is 
the key to the new world. All the markets of the world 
are readily reached from its ports. With the completion of 
an interoceanic canal its commercial importance is all the 
more apparent. It lies squarely between the canal and the 
ports of the United States. Its eastern end lies close to the 
route from the canal to the ports of Europe. Think also 
of the advantages to Cuba in the matter of shipping facili- 
ties, when all the steamers that pass through the canal must 
go by its shores ! The United States alone of great na- 
tions has no tropical territory ministering to its wants. More 
than one-half of England's vast wealth is derived from its 
tropical possessions. One has but to enter any grocery 
store or fruit stand, winter or summer, to realize how many 
tropical products are demanded by, and supplied to our 
people. We have Puerto Rico, indeed, but it is a tiny 
island with an area of only 3,668 square miles and has 
nearly 1,000,000 inhabitants. 

In this connection the Philippine Islands come to mind ; 
but our remote Asiatic possessions are not to be compared 
with Cuba. It takes from 24 to 27 days for boats from 
Manila, to make the nearest ports of the United States, and 
then the continent must be crossed to get to our larger 
markets. From Cuba, boats reach the ports of the United 
States in from seven hours to Key West, to three and one- 
half days to New York. The most northern point of the 
Philippines is south of the southern point of Cuba, and 
those islands extend nearly a thousand miles farther south. 
We cannot send beef to our own soldiers in the Philippines, 
because the best cold storage facilities cannot stand the 
strain of the long voyage through tropical seas. To get 
fruits or any perishable products from those islands is en- 
tirely out of the question. In other respects the comparison 
is equally unfavorable to the Philippines. It is an oriental 
country peopled with Asiatics. It does not become us to 
talk of the "yellow peril," when we annex territory where 

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it grows indigenous. The Philipinos are Malays ; the Cu- 
bans, Caucasians. The native inhabitants of southern Cali- 
fornia, Arizona and New Mexico, at the time of the annexa- 
tion of that territory to the United States, were of the same 
blood as the people of Cuba. In short, Cuba is America; 
the Philippines, Asia. The United States needs Cuba and 
Cuba needs the United States. Of Cuba's no millions of 
exports, 85 per cent goes to the United States ; of approxi- 
mately the same imports 45 per cent comes from the United 
States. This is a necessary tax on the peoples of both coun- 
tries in the matter of duties, the products being essentially 
different. 

2. If Cuba may be considered as a commercial im- 
portance to the United States in time of peace, it may well 
be regarded as a military necessity in time of war. It is the 
nearest large island to this country of great strategic im- 
portance, and it would be disastrous to have it occupied by 
a hostile power. Our interests surround it. Florida is to 
the north, Puerto Rico to the east, and the canal to the 
south. 

3. The very conditions existing in Cuba today render 
desirable and probable its closer connection with the United 
States. The Cuban constitution already recognized the 
right of the United States to guarantee a safe and stable 
government in the Island and to protect life and property. 
The sentiment in Cuba is divided. Without exception, how- 
ever, foreign property owners are heartily in favor of closer 
relations. Nor is this confined to American interests alone. 
None the less anxious are the German, English and Spanish 
interests that rights shall not be jeopardized by more native 
insurrections following an attempt at self-government. Fur- 
thermore, the Cuban moderates, who constitute the prop- 
erty-owning class of the Cubans, prefer closer relations to 
the United States, to a government, as they term it domi- 
nated by negroes and illiterates. 

The annexation of Cuba is not a new idea resulting 
from the Spanish- American War. In 1848, President Polk 
offered $100,000,000 for the purchase of the Island. In 
1854, the Ostend Manifesto appeared, which had the back- 
ing of Buchanan and other prominent men. It was a de- 
claration to the effect that Cuba should be annexed to the 
United States, by purchase if possible, and if not, by con- 
quest. The troubled state of affairs preceding our Civil 

—30— 



War overshadowed this issue at the time, but it was mooted 
again in President Grant's time. 

What the future of the Island will be, no one is prophet 
enough to declare. Under the constant guardianship of the 
United States, it may develop into a stable and enduring 
little Republic. If not, then its guardian must exercise a 
closer protectorate over it, somewhat as England exercises 
over Egypt, or it may adopt it into the family as a Terri- 
tory, or as an independent State. 




